Abstract
In terms of margin delivery, mobile messaging has been the best performing
product in the MNO armoury since the SMS application took off alongside the
extension of mobile telephony to the consumer segment following the
availability of prepay tariffs. A service that was expected to be used for
technical signalling applications by a small proportion of users actually
formed the basis of a whole new low-cost mobile communications culture. The
fact that MNOs had not anticipated this market is demonstrated by the fact
that many did not even implement SMS in their early GSM roll-outs - if they
had recognised the potential they would certainly have ensured earlier
availability. MMS has been labelled a "failure" because it has not repeated
the remarkable success of SMS, though in reality MMS has been extremely
successful since the early factors discouraging use (unclear pricing,
complexity and lack of support) have been addressed.
Now MNOs must assess how they position SMS and MMS together within their
mobile service portfolio. Are the services competing or complementary, what is
the optimum ratio of MMS to SMS price and will success with one format
compromise results from the other? In this report, Mobile Market Development
examines the relationship between SMS and MMS and offers MNOs eight core
recommendations to ensure they can maximise their income and profit from both
platforms.
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